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Global Hunt Launched for Marty McFly’s Lost ‘Back to the Future’ Guitar

Gibson enlisted Back to the Future stars in a public appeal to help locate the cherry-red ES-345, accompanied by a new documentary on its disappearance.

FILE - Michael J. Fox arrives at A Country Thing Happened On The Way To Cure Parkinson's in Nashville, Tenn., on April 26, 2023. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
Michael J. Fox playing the now-missing Gibson ES-345 guitar as Marty McFly in the pivotal "Enchantment Under the Sea" scene in "Back to the Future."
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Overview

  • Michael J. Fox’s cherry-red Gibson ES-345 went missing after its 1985 rental return and was still untraceable during the 1989 sequel’s production.
  • Gibson created www.LostToTheFuture.com and a hotline for tips, featuring a video plea from Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Harry Waters Jr. and Huey Lewis.
  • The guitar’s single gold bar inlay on the 12th fret provides a unique identifier to confirm any credible sighting.
  • Lost to the Future, directed by Doc Crotzer and produced by Gibson Films, is in production and will document the search alongside cast interviews and reflections from inspired musicians.
  • Investigators are following leads ranging from a possible private sale during Japan’s 1980s vintage guitar boom to unrecorded transfers through Norman’s Rare Guitars.